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Weekly Match Reports
week 5 - 4 June 2026
Match Report for week 5 of the OBL - 4 June
OBL Match Report for week 5 – 4 June, 2026
This week I’m featuring division 4, in which Thame look keen to get out of this league as soon as possible. Given the size of their membership, nobody should be surprised about their progress. Thame are currentlly one of only three teams, with wins each week, so far (the other two are Headington A and Banbury Central A in div 1). Thame have a game in hand on second placed Witney Town B, who slipped up this week against Bloxham. Thame had a 5-1 win against Banbury Central B with a 34 shot margin on their visitors. Only Dave White and his rink couldn’t manage to find that extra point, whilst Chris Shannon & Ian Rutherford had good wins for their rinks. Bloxham moved up the table, beating a depleted team from Witney Town, which was a surprise given their large membership. The absence of two players made a big difference when the total scores were considered, with the extra 2 points for the highest score going to Bloxham. The Witney team remain in second place despite this 1-5 loss to Bloxham. Woodstock had a big win against returning team Hanborough with a 92-48 shot result and 5 points to one. Stars on the night were Tim Steven’s team who scored 29 shots and Brian Clarke’s team result, with 30 shots. The only point won by Hanborough was thanks to the rink skipped by Colin Haley with a 16-13 win.
In division 3, the top two teams are Headington B and Banbury Chestnuts, with Charlbury struggling at the other end of the table. Headington’s D. Swanson, had a fast start, standing at 11-0 before Chris Sherwood’s team scored their first counting end. They followed up with two later consecutive wins over 4 ends each time, but alas the Headington gents held on to their earlier advantage with a 18-14 win. There were only 2 shots separating the teams at the end, but the 4 points went to Headington. Banbury Chestnuts had a 75-68 win over Charlbury claiming 4-2 points. Most games were tight, with the only stand out rink being won by Rus Vircaus’ s team who were 8 shots ahead for the Chestnuts. Bicester had a good win against Witney Town A as visitors, with a 20 shot margin after the final end and secured 5 points which moved them up the table. Alan Wagner won by 18-6 against Fabrizio.
In division 1, Headington A retained their top spot with a surprisingly heavy defeat (28 shots) against contenders, Carterton A. Mark Charlett’s team had a decisive win (26-6) against Tim Jupp’s team who only won each of their winning ends by 1 shot only . Howard Watt’s team had a great start leading by 19-6 after 10 ends. Paul Sharman’s team rallied in the second half, but remained 6 shots away at the end. Headington will be pleased with their 5-1 win. Banbury Central A played at Oxford City & County , winning by a margin of 30.5 shots and gaining a 5-1 win. AJ would have won his rink if the missing man had attended, as the 25% loss changed this to a win for Colin Pollard’s team. Chris Charles continued his good form with an emphatic 31-11 over City’s Andy Eastgate. Finally, Adderbury showed some form by beating Kidlington away, by 56 (2)- 77(4). Kev Myton had a high scoring win against Mr Goodgame, whilst Jim Feeley and Ed Stevens won points for the home team.
In Division 2, the local derby between West Witney and Witney Mills resulted in a 79-49 win for the Millers, who gained 5 points for their quest to go back to Div 1. Kevin Siford showed form once again beating Martin Shepherd by 10 shots, matching David Augur’s team win also by 10 shots, but the pens go to Les Days supported by his team-mates who won by 14 shots. Only Kev Alder kept the flag flying with a 15-11 win against Chris Weller’s team.
South Oxford got back to their winning ways by beating Carterton B by 29 shots, the only surprise was that Dave Tidball who hadn’t lost a game this season until this night but gave way to D. Pitcher who won 22-14. Finally, Burford travelled to Banbury Borough and were disappointed with their game despite achieving a 4-2 victory against the home side. Bob Parker was the star, with a 25-6 win against Boro stalwart, Mick Morris. Burford moved to third place in the table.
John
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week 4 - 28 May, 2026
Match Report for week 4 of the OBL – 28 May
Division 2 is starting as predicted, with 4 teams all winning 2 games and losing 1. Until this night South Oxford were the only unbeaten team, but this all went wrong when they visited Burford. At one stage all four rinks showed leads for the home side and three of these completed their rink wins. However, a late rally from South Oxford collectively won 29 shots over the last four ends. This meant that both sides had 70 shots each at the end, with one more point for both sides.
A 4-2 win for Burford.
West Witney finished their game only one shot ahead of Carterton B, but overall this was translated as a 5-1 win for the Witney team. Mike Morris’ team kept the overall score respectable with a 26-12 win against Andy McIntyre’s rink. Witney Mills proved too strong for Carterton B, winning with a 79-56 score, gaining 4.5 points for the league table. Les Days had the biggest win with a seven shot head on the 15 th end and Chris Weller kept his 100% winning run. After a shaky start, CW won the last 8 ends to establish their dominance.
In Div 1, Headington moved to the top of the league with a resounding 96 –35 shot win and taking all 6 points. Banbury Central A stayed in the chase after beating Chipping Norton by 85.75 - 57 shots and 4.5 points. Oxford C & C were happy to win their first match of the season led by Andy Eastgate and his team with a 28-13 win over their Kidlington opponent. Jim Feeley and friends secured their sole point of the evening.
Headington B head Division 3, although opponents Witney Town and Banbury Chestnuts are just behind them. The top 3 teams have all won 2 matches and lost just one, so they have much in common. The Chestnuts were disappointed to lose against West Oxford, who are another team to watch. John Baldwin for the Oxford club, winning 26-9 to Rus Vircaus’ team. Headington B used home advantage to keep Bicester at bay, although A. Balshaw’s win gave the Bicester team some hope. Charlbury lost at home and only had Eddie Lacy to thank for a point.
Witney Town A are determined to gain promotion, given the large number of members at the club and the early successes of their B team who lead in Division 4 . Bill Stewart and Mr Goldby set good examples to their colleagues, who won by 9 shots and 14 shots respectively against their Banbury Central opponents.
Thame had a bye this week and they appear to be the team to beat this seasonin division 4, holding the second position in the league.
Woodstock shrugged off their poor start to the season with a good win at Bloxham by 81-54 and gained 5 valuable league points. Simon Hopkins had some high scoring ends and Ron Collett had 6 end wins on the trot after rink 4, which was the foundation of their win. Hanborough managed a win at home to an Oxford C & C team with a 67-58 scoreline and 5 points.
Week 3 - Thursday, 21 May, 2026
Match Reports for 2026
I’d like to apologise for not providing a match report for the first and second matches of the season. The first match was when I was touring with the Burford Bowls Club in Norfolk, and as the tour organiser, I could not find the time to write the report. The next day after returning, I developed a form of influenser, which laid me up for a few days and although I feel better, I’m still not back to my normal self. Fridays for the last two weeks have largely been a need to correct the software which I use for collecting the results and altering the league tables accordingly. At this busy time of year, I found last week was difficult to catch up on all the work I take on, but thankfully, I have caught up and the week 3 match report is below:
Week 3 – 21 May matches
Last year's Champion contenders have all started well in division 1 with Carterton A leading as a result of Headington and Banbury Central playing one game less. Carterton had a close game this week, away against Adderbury and won three rinks which led to 5 points, although Adderbury were only 5 shots adrift at the end, thanks mainly to the good win from Kev Myton’s rink, beating Sharmy by 24 shots to 9. Headington beat Oxford C & C by 86-54. Howard Watts set the pace with a blistering 31 shot win from his team against C. Scott’s rink. Andrew Eastgate’s rink showed some resistance by securing a point after a 19-13 win, so the game finished a win , 5-1 to Headington. Despite their good start in Div 1, Chipping Norton, lost to Kidlington, even with local advantage on their quick green by 65(1 pt) – 79(5 pts). Graham Box secured the one point for Chippy by beating Jim Feeley’s rink 20-9, whilst the other three rinks slipped past the 20 shot target which led to three rink wins.
Division 2 started as predicted, as all teams are capable of beating any of the others and after 2 games, South Oxford are the only team to produce 2 wins at this stage. The South Oxford team narrowly beat Witney Mills by 6 shots to take the 2 points after each team won 2 rinks each. Dave Tidball had the best rink for the Oxford club winning 23-4, whilst Les Days had the highest rink for the Millers by 25-15. The match ended as a 4-2 win for South Oxford. There was another 4-2 win at Banbury Borough for their guests Carterton B, with Darren Wakeman skipping for a 24-7 win over their opponents. The margin was 58-72 in favour of the Carterton team . In the third game of div 2, West Witney hosted a match against Burford, who mastered the green better than their opponents and achieved a 5-1 win. Bob Parker, for the visitors rink, managed to beat Kevin Alder’s rink by 20-6 and both John Hurren and Jack Lafford managed to win close games to secure the points for the third win. The overall score was 71-63 in favour of Burford.
In Div 3, only one team again managed to win both their first matches, and that was Banbury Chestnuts. They took the top spot of the league table by beating Headington B by 4½ - 1½ in a close match where there were only 3 shots between them. Daryl Wall had the best rink win, with 23 shots to 15. Whilst S Rogers and Ian Kibblewhite shook hands for a draw. Steve Gould secured a full point for Headington with a 20-10 win against Rus Vircaus’s rink.
Witney Town beat a West Oxford side by 22 shots with Gary Panon’s rink getting a 28-15 score. The Witney Team picked up a 5-1 win and look to do well in this division this year. Charlbury also claimed a stake in the title race with a 5-1 win at Bicester. Captain Chris Beard led the way with a 20-10 win and a 21 shot lead for Charlbury at the end indicated they were a team to be reckoned with.
Finally in Division 4, we saw our first 100 plus score, virtue of the Thame team who secured a 106(6pts) – 27 (0 pts) and rightfully claimed the league leader’s spot. All the Thame players played well to amass such a big score and it would be wrong to single out any particular Thame player. Hanborough will need to re-group and start again next week, to lose their memories of this game.
Bloxham had a close encounter with Banbury Central B’s side and the honours went to Bloxham for their 2 shot win, gaining 3½ points overall. Des Jones had the highest winning rink for Bloxham of 25-7 shots. Glen Mullard saved the overall score for Central by beating Ian Jackman’s rink by 26-12. The third game in the league was between Oxford C & C B and Witney Town B and the narrowest win was achieved by the Witney team, even after losing 25% of their score on one rink, due to a missing player. It is rare that the 2 points for the win goes to a team with a ¼ shot advantage at the finish. This match wins my weekly “naughty boys” label, as one card was barely legible and the other hasn’t arrived yet. From the information I could read, the match ended 59 shots and 2 points for the Oxford team and 59¼ shots and 4 points went to the Witney team. County President, Alan Scholan set the right example to his team-mates by winning his rink 20-9.
Finally, may I draw your attention to the information I place on the county website this year, as a new method of displaying the results and tables was necessary. Gone are the four tabs for divisions and the current information can be seen by opening the two new tabs labelled “OBL weekly scores” and “BOL current tables”.
I hope you can gain all the information you want. John.